


If Wishes were Tigers

by Sermocinare



Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Canon Compliant, Child Abducion, Child Abuse, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Daemon abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Implied paedophilic character, Physical Abuse, Spiders, Taraluna (Hux's Daemon), Tarantulas are misunderstood creatures, and so is Armitage Hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22619647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sermocinare/pseuds/Sermocinare
Summary: “When you're hurt and scared for so long, the fear and pain turn to hate and the hate starts to change the world.” - Dark Alessa, Silent HillNo matter how terrible things are, Hux and Taraluna still have each other. Until they don't.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20
Collections: A Star Wars/His Dark Materials crossover collection





	If Wishes were Tigers

Taraluna heard them first. She had been dozing next to Armitage on the bed, curled up in her favorite form, but now the daemon sat up, pricking her ears forward: “Someone’s coming.” 

Armitage rubbed the sleep from his eyes, woken by the kitten’s sudden alertness: “Mh? Who’s comin’, Tara?”

“No idea. Let’s go look.”

Taraluna jumped off the bed, and Armitage followed, his naked feet padding over the floor as silently as his daemon’s paws.

Just as he was reaching up to grab the door handle, he heard his mother’s voice.

“What are you doing here?”

Armitage pushed the door open no more than a hand’s breadth, peeking out so that he could watch what was going on at the front door, Taraluna following suit.

Whoever it was at the door, mama didn’t like them. She was frowning, and Illaron’s fur was standing on end, his tail puffed up.

“I’m here for Armitage.”

Something about the voice was familiar, and he looked down at Taraluna, whose fur had begun to rise as she stepped closer to him, pressing against his leg: “I don’t like this, Armie.”

“What do you mean, you’re here for Armitage?” 

His mother’s eyes narrowed, and next to her, Illaron was growling deep in his throat. It wasn’t a sound Armitage had heard often. Usually, the orange tabby was easygoing and sweet, but now he seemed ready to attack.

“What it means is that I’m taking him with me,” the man said, pushing Armitage’s mother aside and stepping into the room.

Whatever his mother replied didn’t register with Armitage, since together with the man, his daemon entered the room, and the sight of the creature made Armitage feel as if he had been thrown into a freezing lake. 

It was a reptile, almost as high as the man’s knee, its massive head hanging low as a long, forked tongue flicked out. The thing’s legs were stumpy but powerful, and its huge claws clicked onto the floor as it stepped into the middle of the room, long tail swishing lazily. 

Another flick of the tongue, then it half-turned its head: “Brendol. The boy is in the other room.”

Brendol. That’s why the voice had sounded familiar. He had heard it, and the name, before, arguing with mama, but he had never seen the man. Mama had always told him to stay in his room, and Armitage was a good boy and did as his mother told him. 

Both man and beast made a few steps towards the door Armitage was hiding behind, but then, his sight was blocked by his mother stepping in front of it.

“He is not coming with you, you hear me? You can’t just walk in here and take my son!”

Illaron was hissing and spitting, back arched upwards and ears flattened against his head, and Armitage could feel Taraluna’s small body tremble against his leg.

Brendol gave a derisive snort: “I’m his father. I can do what I want.”

The man moved to step around Armitage’s mother, but once again, she stepped in his way: “His father?! You didn’t even acknowledge him when he was born! Every time we needed something from you because he was sick or needed new clothes I had to beg, and in the end I had to threaten you with telling Martelle so that you would help us, you son of a bitch!”

His mother’s hands had curled into fists, and Armitage let out a small cry when, faster than the blink of an eye, Illaron launched himself at Brendol’s huge reptile daemon, howling like a vengeful spirit, his sharp claws unsheathed. For a moment, the cat was on top of the larger daemon, scratching at her eyes, but then, the reptile swung her head in a powerful arc, sending the cat crashing to the floor. Illaron was up again in less than a heartbeat, once more trying to jump on the other daemon’s head-

Armitage screamed when he saw the reptile’s huge jaws snap around Illaron’s body, and clapped his hands over his ears to try and block out the piercing screams of both his mother and Illaron as his mother crumpled to the floor, her arms wrapped around her middle. A moment later, the cat daemon’s body landed next to hers. 

“...mama?” Armitage’s voice was shaky, barely loud enough for himself to hear. Everything felt so strange, as if it were one of his nightmares, but it wasn’t a nightmare, because then mama would wake him up like she always did. 

“Mama?” 

Armitage pushed the door open further, and Taraluna made a few tentative steps in their mother’s direction. 

“Armitage...” His mother’s voice sounded strained, cracked, and she gasped in pain as she pushed herself up so that she could look at him, shaking her head wildly: “No, go back, Armie, lock the door...”

But her words came too late. With a wild dash, both Armitage and Taraluna were at her side, the boy shaking her gently while tears rolled from his eyes: “Mama, mama, what’s wrong, please mama I’m scared!”

Next to them, Taraluna was licking Illaron’s face and giving him an encouraging shove with her tiny head. 

“Enough of that,” Brendol snapped. Then, he turned to the two Stormtroopers who were still lingering at the door: “Take him.”

Armitage thought about running back into the bedroom and locking the door like mama had said, but he couldn’t leave her alone with Brendol and his scary daemon. When one of the Stormtroopers grabbed his arm, he tried to pull away, but the trooper’s grip was too strong, the hand around Armitage’s arm like a vise, almost crushing his bones. 

Taraluna did her best to fight the Stormtrooper’s massive dog daemon, but no matter which form she took on, she was no match for it. She was too small, not strong enough, just like her human. In the end, she had no choice but to flutter back to Armitage, a tiny orange moth settling behind his ear, trying her best to calm him with whispered words and gentle touches of her wings as they were dragged away from their home, their mama and Illaron, their sobs drowned out by the noise of the shuttle which would take them away forever.

–

The crash of the glasses landing on the floor made Taraluna jump, and she quickly changed into a mouse to hide behind Armitage’s feet. Both Rawina and the Admiral’s huge snake daemon raised their heads, their tongues flicking out almost simultaneously as they inched forward.

Armitage felt the blood drain from his face, and he quickly looked over to his father: “I’m sorry...”

“You’re pathetic!” Brendol snapped, and Rawina took a few quick steps forward, hissing at Armitage, which sent Tara running up the leg of the boy’s too large pants until she was sitting on his shoulder, safe from the jaws of the monster.

“I didn’t mean to,” Armitage mumbled, averting his eyes. Why was he always so clumsy? He had hoped to make a good impression…

“Given you found his mother in a kitchen,” Admiral Brooks scoffed, “you’d think your illegitimate son could at least serve a drink, Commandant Hux.”

“Did he have to say that?” Taraluna whispered next to Armitage’s ear, her tiny teeth clicking as she worked her jaw. “Now Brendol will be even angrier.”

Armitage quietly shushed her. The last thing he needed was his father or the Admiral overhearing his daemon sassing them. 

“Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find anything Armitage isn’t utterly useless at, Admiral Brooks,” Brendol sneered, his eyes narrowing. Rawina was slowly circling Armitage, careful as to not step into any of the shards of glass that glittered on the floor.

“I’ll clean it,” Armitage said hastily, “I’ll wipe it up and...”

Once again, Admiral Brooks interrupted him: “Be a shame to waste all of that. He should lick it up.”

A shudder ran down Armitage’s spine, his stomach flipping. The Admiral was smiling, but it was a cruel, nasty smile that made Armitage’s skin crawl, and that strange feeling of violation that was making his stomach clench in fear was only heightened by the look in Brooks’ eyes. The Admiral’s daemon slithered down from the couch she and Brooks were resting on, closing the distance between her and Armitage at an almost frightening speed.

He looked over to Brendol, hoping against hope that his father would intervene on his behalf: “Father?”

All he could see in his father’s face was a dark, dangerous fury that he knew would unload itself on him as soon as they were behind closed doors, and Armitage did his best to hold back a whimper of fear.

What was he supposed to do? His father wasn’t saying anything, and really, expecting any kind of help from him was bound to end in disappointment. 

In the end, Brooks was an Admiral, and he was just a kid. It wasn’t as if he had much of a choice, did he? He could feel Taraluna’s small body pressed up against his neck, her snout nuzzling his jaw soothingly even though she was shaking with fear.

Tears of humiliation springing into his eyes, Armitage slowly went to his knees, then on all fours, his mouth inching towards the floor. Somewhere above him, his father was saying something, his voice dripping with disgust, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see the head of the Admiral’s daemon rising off the floor, tongue flicking out towards where he knew Taraluna was sitting, crouched up into a ball.

“Now aren’t you a pretty little thing. Come down from there so I can have a better look at you.”

Taraluna jumped off Armitage’s back, shifting in the process to take on the form of a mongoose: “Stay away from us, or I’ll-”

Suddenly, the massive form of Rawina was between them, first hissing at the snake, then taking a huge swipe at Taraluna, which sent her flying into the nearest wall. 

Armitage screamed as his father’s hand clamped around his arm, yanking him up with such brutality that for a moment he was afraid his arm would be ripped from its socket.

“Get up, Armitage,” Brendol roared, and the moment Armitage was on his feet, his father’s hand let go of his arm and clamped around his throat: “You disgust me, you sniveling little vermin, you’re a disgrace to our family, I should have told your little whore of a mother to abort you...”

Armitage was desperately trying to breathe, his father’s grip almost crushing his windpipe, and he was uselessly clawing at Brendol’s fingers, trying to pull them off his throat. 

Then, his father gave a shout of pain and finally let go. Armitage gasped, sucking air into his lungs in huge gulps. Taraluna was sitting on the front of his shirt, her arachnid form effortlessly holding on to the coarse fabric, while Brendol was cursing and rubbing the back of his hand, which was quickly swelling up around the two tiny drops of blood visible there.

“Damned little brat, I’ll-”

“Now, now, Commandant.” Admiral Brooks’ voice was calm, but his face was barely hiding his amusement. “Don’t be so hard on them. The boy was only doing as he was told, and isn’t obedience a virtue in a child? As for that daemon of his,” Brooks chuckled, and reached out to stroke his snake daemon’s head, “she’s quite the spunky one.”

Armitage could see that his father was boiling with rage, but apparently, good relations with the Admiral were more important than teaching him a lesson. 

“Get out, Armitage. I’ll deal with you later.”

“Y...yes, Sir.”

Hours later, Brendol’s lesson still burning on the skin of his back, Armitage lay curled up underneath his thin blanket, his face buried in Taraluna’s soft belly as the cat softly nuzzled his hair.

“It’s not fair, Tara!”

“You’re right, it’s not,” Taraluna said, rubbing her cheek against Armitage’s head. 

“I wish I were bigger and stronger. So I could...”

“What, Armie?”

Armitage’s breath tickled her fur when he answered: “So I could kill them.”

“Mmmh,” Taraluna said, her tail twitching, “that would be nice. If we could make them go away like that.”

“But I’ll never be a match for him.” Armitage’s voice was hollow and cold, like a deep, dark cave: “I’ll always be weak and useless.”

“Nonsense!” Taraluna sat up, her claws unsheathing: “Don’t you ever say that about yourself, Armitage! You’re not useless, and you’re not weak, either. Yes, they have the upper hand now, but you know what we have?”

“What?” Armitage pushed himself up on his elbow so he could look into his daemon’s eyes, which were reflecting the sparse light coming from underneath the door.

“Time. We have time, and we’re ten times smarter than them. They’ve got the power now, but they won’t have it forever. And then...” Tara held up one of her paws, then swiped the air with her claws.

“Then we strike.” Armitage grinned into the darkness. Yes. One day, he would make them pay. He would make all of them pay, and no one would be able to hurt him ever again.

\--

„You promised!“

Taraluna skuttled down Armitage’s arm and onto the table, where she raised herself up onto her four hind legs, a clear sign that she was angry. Not that Armitage needed that visual clue. He had been feeling her anger, resentment and deep, almost painful disappointment from the moment he had covered her with his uniform’s cap. Truth to be told, he had almost expected her to bite him, despite the pain she herself would have felt. She had been as excited about this, the first demonstration of the might of their new weapon, as he had. 

Armitage turned his back on her, pulling off his gloves: “The gust would have blown you away, had you been exposed.”

“Oh, yes, of course. You did it to protect me.” Tara’s voice was filled with sarcasm, and Amitage could hear the clicking of her mandibles. He was sure that Tarantula’s fangs were dripping with venom. “Nothing to do with the whole First Order’s eyes being on you. You would rather have them see no daemon at all than knowing that yours is some small, fragile, ugly spider.”

Armitage ground his teeth together, feeling his own temper rise. Why did she always have to be like this. She knew exactly how hard it had been, how hard it still was for him, being surrounded by those who would use any chance they got to take him down. The last thing he would do, though, would be to let her pull him into another argument. 

For a while, there was silence between them. When Armitage finally turned around to face his daemon, Taraluna had retreated into the little shelter he had built in one corner of his desk, the only part of her he could still see the tips of her foremost legs, and the occasional glint of light off her eyes. He felt his heart give a painful twist, and he reached out with his fingertips, letting them hover a hair’s breadth away from her legs. 

“This was supposed to be a triumph for both of us. Remember all those days and nights we spent working together? How I kept you awake, tickling your ear whenever you almost dozed off? No one believed it could be done, but you did it anyway. And I was so proud of you. I’m still so proud of you. I always am, no matter what.” Taraluna’s voice dropped into a whisper so small Armitage had to strain his ears to hear it: “I just wish you were proud of me, too.”

Armitage pulled his hand back, fingers curling into a fist to stop them from trembling, and swallowed around the knot in his throat: “I’m sorry, Tara. I wish I...”

He shook his head. This was how it was, and nothing could change it. This was what she had settled as. 

“Me too, Armitage. Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hux and Taraluna moodboard made by NsuYeula (@NsuYeula on twitter)


End file.
